The family of a man who was fatally shot last week by a San Diego police officer on Tuesday released video of the shooting and said they believe the officer used excessive force.
Jose Alfredo Castro Gutierrez’s widow and her family’s attorney said Castro was in a state of paranoia when he ran toward officers outside his home in the Mountain View neighborhood on Oct. 19. They said they believe Castro thought the officers would help him.
Instead a police officer shot Castro, a 30-year-old Mexican national and legal U.S. resident who worked in construction. Police said he had a metal curtain rod in hand.
The video — from a home surveillance camera — offers the first look at the encounter between Castro and officers. Police have not yet released video of the shooting. Spokesman Lt. Shawn Takeuchi said the Police Department was “making every effort to release video of the officer-involved shooting without delay.”
The surveillance video shows officers standing on a sidewalk. One officer walks around a pickup parked along the curb, holding what looks like a bean-bag shotgun. The officers on the sidewalk suddenly walk backwards — at least one of them reaches for his holster, as Castro sprints toward them. He suddenly falls to the ground, his bare feet convulsing.
Police said Officer Isai Castillo, who has been with the Police Department for two years, shot Castro. Another officer fired a bean-bag round, while a third fired a Taser.
“I’m in shock,” Castro’s widow, Ana Ojeda, said in an interview via Zoom. “I’m sad because it’s an injustice that my husband lost his life.”
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She and Castro’s half brother, Carlos Encinas, remembered Castro as a friendly and caring husband and father who made others feel special.
The family’s attorney, Eugene Iredale, said he understood why officers would turn to less-lethal options — he acknowledged that officers may not have known what was happening as Castro ran toward them. But he denounced the lethal force, calling it unnecessary, excessive and unjustified. He added that Castro wasn’t a threat to officers.
Ojeda said Castro had a history of schizophrenia and paranoia. She said her husband had encounters with police in Mexico and that they would help calm him down. She added that he was not a violent person.
Iredale said it appears Castro may have “self medicated” with methamphetamine.
Castro was shot about 4:25 a.m. Thursday.
Residents of the home on Pardee Street where Castro rented a room called 911 after he woke them up, according to Iredale and police. Castro was in what the residents described to police as a state of paranoia. He ripped a meta
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